EVRAZ started developing a new grinding balls production facility at Nizhniy Tagil Steel Plant. All project engineering activities will be completed by 2016, with commissioning scheduled for Q3 2017. The new plant will enable the company to start production of grinding balls of the fifth hardness grade, which are currently not produced domestically.
Grade 5 grinding balls are characterised by the all-through hardening that ensures high hardness throughout the volume of the ball. The new plant will produce 60mm–120mm grinding balls with the hardness of 50-63HRC, enhancing the product’s durability. Also, the Russian supplier of equipment for the plant already developed a two-stage controlled hardening technology.
Photo courtesy EVRAZ
EVRAZ is a major supplier of steel grinding balls for the Russian and CIS industrial users. In 2014, EVRAZ NTMK and EVRAZ ZSMK produced over 225,000t of grinding balls, which made up for 60% of the domestic market. “We will ramp up our production capacities by one third, but even more importantly, will be able to deliver products that are currently unmatched domestically. Thus we will use the import substitution potential in the segment”, says Aleksey Ivanov, Vice-President, EVRAZ, Head of the Steel Division. The annual production capacity of the new plant is planned at 135,000t of grinding balls. The total investments will exceed EUR 16M.
